S.C. State LB Named MEAC's Top Defender

South Carolina State's football program continues to own the MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award and that trend continued as linebacker Darius Leonard has been named the winner of that award for the second straight year.

The redshirt senior from Lake View, SC currently ranks fourth in the FCS with 113 tackles (11.3 per game) and second in solo tackles (7.3 pg). He also picked off two passes and had seven (7) sacks. He finished his career as the all-time leading tackler in SC State history with 393.

This past season, Leonard had six games with 12 or more tackles including 18 against Morgan State.

Since 2013, South Carolina State has taken home this particular award. Joe Thomas won the Defensive POY award in 2013 followed by Javon Hargrave (2014 and 2015) and Leonard (2016 and 2017). Thomas is currently on the Green Bay Packers roster and Hargrave is in his second year in the NFL with the Steelers who chose him in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft.